Notes and Editorial Reviews

For years this has been the benchmark Butterfly (perhaps tied with Callas', but all other things being equal, truly better), and re-hearing it now, it still is. If there is one flaw it is Barbirolli's conducting; he almost loves the score too much, and his lingering occasionally makes you feel that the action lacks impetus. But the upside of that is the gorgeous orchestral detail; it's easy to forget how well orchestrated this opera is, and Barbirolli reminds us.

Elsewhere the performance can't be faulted: Renata Scotto was at the peak of her vocal powers in 1966, with beautiful pianissimos as well as every other dynamic, and a voice whose top had not yet turned acidic. As anRead more interpretation, she gets Butterfly magnificently. She never overdoes the little-girlness, and the pathetic 18-year-old "I-won't-go-back-to-being-a-geisha" monolog never dissolves into tears, but rather ends with a quiet, resigned, and utterly heartrending "Morta!". Even in the final scene she refuses to cheapen with effects; her vocal color and phrasing tell the story perfectly.

Carlo Bergonzi, too, is at his honeyed best, with the voice beautifully produced from top to bottom, and if he misses Gigli's playfulness in Act 1, well, too bad: his last act is ravishing. Rolando Panerai's Sharpless is well-drawn, and he's very effective in the catastrophic second-act conversation with Butterfly. Anna di Stasio sings Suzuki sympathetically, blending well with Scotto in the Flower Duet. The sound is superb. This is a study in sadness that can't be beat. [11/9/2002]